Hangin with the Hufflepuffs
by CharityAngela
Summary: Follow the lives of sibling British/American Hufflepuffs yes, Hufflepuffs! and the adventures they have with their friends. Ch 2: Hana gets some surprise birthday presents. Ember reveals her true feelings about Hana's brother. Takes place after HPDH
1. The Birthday Present

Chapter 1: The Birthday Present

Hana Courtney's Dark school robes billowed about her feet as she climbed the short flight of stairs from her dormitory to the Hufflepuff common room. As she entered the room, she had to look around for a moment before spotting Nemo. He was reclined in a chair by the fire that was now in embers. Nicodemus Courtney had a way of blending into his surroundings with astonishing ease, an athletic, outdoors type who had a keen eye for observation.

Hana smiled at her brother as she strode over to him. "Well, are you ready?" she whispered. She had never been out of the dormitory at night, but she was looking forward to this little adventure of theirs.

"Almost." He replied in a low voice.

His voice didn't have her slight British accent, which she had only just picked up since starting to school at Hogwarts. He had retained his soft island drawl. The two siblings had been raised in Hawaii by their mother, a beautiful native girl by the name of Tani. It was their father who had been English, and was their link to Hogwarts. He had been a wizard, something no one in the family had known until two letters had been delivered from the school. The reason that no one had known this amazing secret was because he had died before he could break the news to his wife and children.

Nemo bent down to pick up the bag that was at the foot of the chair, and pulled out a glass bottle that was full of a brown, swirling liquid.

"Pepper Up Potion!" he said with a smile on his face.

Hana grinned in relief. She knew that the lake would be cold, and she had never gotten used to the climate of northern England. "Did you steal that from the hospital wing?"

"I had a sudden cold this morning," he smirked. "I took some extra in case it came back." He pulled the stopper out of the bottle and poured half the potion into a beaker for his sister. Warmth spread immediately through their bodies as they drank, and Hana's courage increased. She only hoped that the smoke pouring from their ears wouldn't be spotted as they were sneaking across the grounds.

"The moon's full tonight, we might be spotted," she said as they went toward the portrait hole together.

"Not once we're at the lake. We're going to the little bay at the south west side – the one with the huge willow tree. We'll just have to be careful on the way there and back.

He held a finger to his lips as he slowly pushed on the portrait. They could just hear the soft wheezing breath of the painted figure on the other side. The hiwayman seemed to be snoozing. The two siblings stepped cautiously out into the narrow corridor, closing the doorway as they looked around.

Moonlight lit the passageway, streaming in the floor to ceiling stained glass window that ended the corridor to their left. The window showed a very old man with flowing white hair, robes billowing about him as he stood on a rocky outcropping over a stormy lake with his wand raised high.

Most people assumed that the old man was trying to overturn the small boat in the middle of the lake, and the frail old man was very imposing. But Hana kept looking at his gentle eyes in that roughened face, and felt certain that he was instead trying to save the little vessel.

The rest of the hallway was bare except for a large tapestry on the far wall that was flanked on either side by tall marble pillars. They turned right to where the corridor ended at the crossing of a larger one, and turned right again once they reached it.

The corridor they walked down now had many portraits, many of them with food, including one particularly large painting with a huge green pair.

They passed all this in silence, on constant vigil for teachers, ghosts, and Peeves. Then they came to a staircase leading up and into the main entrance hall, and then out the huge front doors.

The two of them crossed the grounds by staying to the shadows of the castle as much as possible, leaving wispy strands of smoke in their wake. They gave Hagrid's hut a wide berth so as not to disturb Fang. Once they reached the edge of the lake, there was nowhere else to hide. They ran full out along the bank until they had rounded a bend and were shielded by the trees.

Hana stopped and stared in amazement. The moon was out, along with a full array of stars, and the surface of the lake was a sheet of softly rippling silver. The forest and surrounding hills were beautiful in the soft light.

Nemo set down the bag on the grass and pulled off his robes. Underneath he was wearing surf shorts, the long, loose kind that he had worn day in and day out in Hawaii.

"What else have you got in there?" asked Hana as she pulled off her robes. She was also wearing surf shorts, along with a dark green bikini top.

"Your birthday Present, of course." He replied. Then he rummaged through the bag producing a small parcel wrapped in brown paper and string. "Happy 13th!" he proclaimed and gave an elaborate bow, doffing an imaginary hat.

Hana took the package and opened it. Resting on the plain paper was a necklace of small pearls, some of them flattened spheres, others shaped like eggs. It was a beautiful piece. In the front, there were three pearls that were larger than the others, and she didn't think the pearls were white, but in the moonlight it was hard to be sure.

"Nemo, it's beautiful!" she cried as she threw her arms around his neck. He smiled and rubbed his neck as she let go. Then taking the necklace, he put it around her, tying the small ribbon at the back of her neck.

"The pearls come from the lake." He said.

"Oh, did you make it?"

"No, I traded it."

She must have looked confused, because he continued, "I traded my knife for that and my own necklace for this one." For the first time she noticed that he was wearing a necklace also, but instead of pearls, his was made up of small, brown spiral shells, with three smooth, skinny bones in the front, each about an inch and a half long.

"You traded your dagger?!" She was shocked at the news. And with good reason – the dagger had belonged to their Hawaiian grandfather.

"Not grandpa's dagger. The smaller one that I got last summer in Oahu. But even if I had traded grandpa's dagger, I think it would have been worth it."

"How can you say that?" she was incredulous.

"Because of what these necklaces do." He replied mysteriously. "You haven't asked me who I traded _with_ yet." He paused for effect, then continued, "They come from the bottom of the lake, made by the merpeople themselves."

She stared for a moment, then her mouth fell open as the whole meaning of this hit her. "You mean with these we can…"

"Yes, breathe under water!"

She was stunned. They had learned about merpeople the year before, but it had never been mentioned that they lived here, in this very lake.

"Nemo, this is amazing! We can go anywhere in the lake with these." She was having trouble keeping her voice down. When Hana was happy, it was never a secret, thought Nemo, smiling to himself. It was only when she was quiet and distant that you had to worry, because those were the signs that something was wrong.

"Not anywhere in the lake, at least not tonight," he corrected her. "The grindylows come up to the surface with the full moon. For now we'll have to stick to this cove.

They entered the water together, and when it was waist deep they sank into their necks and kicked off the bottom and into deeper water. The cove was almost like a miniature lake itself. The banks of the shoreline rose at a sharp angle, leaving a very narrow path between two hills that was the only way to the water's edge from land. Once inside this ring of hills, there was barley a foot and a half of beach, and it was made up entirely of small pebbles. Directly across from where the path entered the cove, a rock formation jutted twenty five feet into the air. On either side of the sentinel rocks, there were gaps five feet wide that connected the lagoon to the lake beyond. On the left hand side of the waterway was a plateau with a very large willow tree, its longest hanging vines ten feet above the water's surface. The little cove had a diameter of about 100 feet.

As Hana ducked her head under the water, she instinctively held her breath. She looked over to Nemo and could see that he was breathing fine. He was taking deep, exaggerated breaths nodding his head and motioning for her to do the same. She had to fight years of practiced diving and every basic instinct in her body to follow his lead. She gulped and steeled herself, then drew a long, slow breath.

It felt like breathing, but at the same time she could feel the differences. Her mouth was shut, and breathing through her nose, Hana could feel the water entering and exiting her body with each breath.

"This is so weird!" she thought, smiling to herself. Then she got another shock as she heard Nemo's voice.

"OK then?" It sounded strangely muffled by the water, but at the same time amplified. She could hear his voice as clearly as if they weren't under water. "Look down Hana." She looked and saw clearly through the water to the bottom of the pool, about 50 feet below. She understood now. Her senses had been amplified for life in a marine environment. Normally at night you wouldn't be able see anything underwater. But now she could see the grains of sand on the bottom, and even see the green moss that grew on the large underwater boulders.

Hana loved diving as much as she loved flying. Being raised in Hawaii, she had been swimming in the ocean before she could crawl. She loved hanging motionless over the surface and staring at the bottom. It was a feeling of freedom that she reveled in. 

Hana and Nemo swam in the cove for over an hour before heading back to the castle. The pepper-up potion was beginning to wear off, but there was enough left in their systems that they had dried off after several minutes, and by the time they reached the main entrance, they were no longer leaving wet footprints.


	2. Truth and Secrets

Chapter 2: Truth

"Truth or dare?"

Hana looked up from her fruit. Ember had plopped down on the bench beside her and grabbed several pieces of toast and was reaching for the butter knife when she repeated, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," replied Hana.

A grin spread over Ember's face as she said, "Where did you go last night and who were you with?"

"You can't ask a double question."

"Fine, who were you with?"

"I was with Nemo of course," said Hana, nonchalant. She knew that Ember had a longstanding infatuation with her brother, and thankfully, most of the time she refrained from asking endless questions about him and going on about him in front of her. Hana knew that Ember restrained herself for her sake, with difficulty, though. "He told me to come alone or I'd have brought you. He gave me my birthday present, see." Hana showed off her necklace of pearls. In the morning light they had shown to be a soft, powdery blue.

"You were gone for two hours while he gave that to you?" Ember was mumbling through mouthfuls of doughnut now. She always ate as quickly as possible, as if her food would be taken away if left conversation was interrupted by the morning's mail before Hana could reply. Several letters were dropped onto her plate as the owls circled over her and then left. One owl dropped a parcel right on top of her head.

"Look, look, it's a screamer. I wonder who sent it." Ember was more excited about Hana's birthday mail than she was, it seemed. The Howler started to smoke at the seams, Hana wondered who could be sending her hate mail on her birthday, but she didn't have to wait for long. As soon as the Howler exploded she realized it was a love song.

"_If I could just hold your hand,_

_If I could just touch your hair,_

_I know together we could be great,_

_My lovely island Hufflepuff girl._

_Happy Birthday!"_

Hana could feel her face; it was so hot that she felt lightheaded. She quickly stuffed the rest of her morning mail into her bag, threw it over her shoulder and ran toward to great hall. She could hear the hoots and calls from all of the house tables, but the loudest cries seemed to be coming from the Slytherin table. Typical, she thought.

She went out the double front doors and headed toward the greenhouses. She could show up for herbology a few minutes early. Standing outside the greenhouse, she looked in the grimy glass at a particularly huge plant inside. It must have sensed her presence, because a shoot rose from the center of the base and opened into a bright red flower. The flower turned to the glass, and came as close as possible. Hana wasn't sure if she should be grateful for the glass barrier or not. The flower looked innocent enough; it looked cute somehow, almost like a puppy asking for a treat.

"Well now, what's this? I don't think I've ever seen Ollie bloom so fast for anyone before." Professor Sprout pulled out her want and pointed it at Ollie. "Magnimous Golexi," she said in her girlish voice. There didn't seem to be much of an effect on the plant, but Professor Sprout seemed satisfied and she sheathed her wand again.

"Now he'll be good to you. He was marking you for an attack, but we can't have that now, can we?" Job done, the stout lady turned and walked toward the far end of the greenhouse, where the entrance was. She was humming to herself and seemed to have forgotten all about Hana.

"Wait, professor! I wanted to ask you a question." Hana hurried to catch up. "It's about the glass window in the hallway, outside the common room."

"Oh, I love that window. Yes, I remember when it was first put in. I was about your age, and the Headmistress wanted to honor the greatest Hufflepuff who ever lived."

Hana brushed a hair out of her eyes, squinting into the morning light. "What was his name?"

"Well, I don't really remember now."

"But you said he was the greatest Hufflepuff and all that."

Professor Sprout stopped short. "Yes, that's what the Headmistress told us. But he was also one of her ancestors. So, who knows? I know I had never heard of him before then, and I could never remember his name since."

With that, the little lady continued on to where the rest of the herbology class was waiting, and Hana walked toward Ember, who was in the class as well.

Ember held out a sack for her. "You left in a hurry, so I grabbed you some French toast. Sorry I didn't have anything to put the syrup in."

"That's fine, I can eat them dry." Hana knew she could always count on Ember when it came to food!

They stood in front of their mandrakes pruning and mixing plant food, and continuing their conversation from breakfast.

"So, you're saying that with that thing, you can go anywhere in the lake? That'll be helpful for when we have to do reports on marine life." Ember threw her flaming hair over her shoulder, whacking the boy behind her on the back of the head. She continued without even looking at him. "We can get personal interviews from the merpeople. We'll probably get extra credit for having a live source that no one else has."

"Yeah, if we could speak mermish." replied Hana, a bit of toast muffling her voice. I hear Dumbledore used to be able to."

"Lot of good that does us." shot back Ember. "You think Hagrid knows anything about merpeople?"

"Why are you so interested in the lake?"

"Well, I just think it would be cool to dive in it, don't you?

"So all of a sudden, you think it would be great to swim in fish poo and dirt? You've always hated being outdoors. You don't even like being in Care of Magical Creatures." Hana looked at her friend closely. She thought she saw a blush beneath the streaks of dirt on her cheeks.

"You just want to impress Nemo, don't you?" The blush deepened when Hana asked that.

"What are you talking about?"

Truth?"

"You can't just assume I would choose truth. What if I wanted to do…"

"You have never done a dare in the three years we've been playing this game. And stop avoiding the question."

"Fine." Ember didn't look up from the pestle she was mashing herbs with. "It's been years and your brother doesn't even know I exist. It's like I'm just an extension of his little sister. So I think it's time I did something to get his attention."

Hana didn't reply. She didn't want her brother to start liking Ember, but she wasn't sure why. Maybe because it would be awkward to hang out with them. And what if they broke up? That would be even worse. Hana had no problem with the way things were right now.

Except for the look on Ember's face. Ember had liked Nemo ever since she had been sorted into the Hufflepuff house. She had been so disappointed for not making Ravenclaw. Hana had only asked her once what the sorting hat had said to her, but Ember had refused to answer. All she knew was what she had seen, and that was Ember sitting next to her at the Hufflepuff table wiping tears from her face that first night.

Looking at her now, she almost looked as forlorn as she had then. Hana leaned over the table and whispered, "Next time we go diving I'll let you know."

They put up the mulch and shears, and filed out of the greenhouse along with the rest of the class. Ember looked a little bit more cheerful as she looked at Hana and said, "You know, we've never had boyfriends before. We better fix that soon or we'll be the last ones in our dorm to be single. Could you imagine if Athena went out with someone before we did?" She looked truly horrified by that thought.

"I saw Diana yesterday hanging out with Willie Anderson, the Gryffindor. I wonder if they are going out. He's been watching her in Charms since last month."

Ember looked like she might be sick. "We need to get moving, then. I wonder when we'll find out who sent you that love letter. You might have a boyfriend before I do."

Hana desperately wanted to forget the incident from breakfast. "Why did it have to come with the mail? Why not in secret? Isn't that the point of a _secret_ admirer?"

"Maybe it won't be a secret for long." Hana looked at her friend as they entered the castle. Ember had a mischievous sparkle in her eye, it was a look that Hana had become very familiar with over the years. Usually it meant something exciting was about to happen, and it was confirmed by the fluttering in her stomach.

One thing was certain; life at Hogwarts was never dull.


End file.
